by Ali Parker
“Excellent.” B sucked down the last of her cigarette. She stamped out the butt and clapped her hands together gleefully. “Now that that’s settled, Ryan, I think this client will be a slam dunk for you.”
“I don’t need help,” I said stubbornly. “I can handle Candice on my own.”
“Baby.” B sighed. “There is no shame in accepting help from someone more experienced than yourself.”
Avoiding Kason’s cocky gaze, I tried to keep my expression blank. If Beatrice knew just how pissed off I was, she’d be on my ass faster than I could blink. Her kindness only extended so far.
“Thank you.” I forced the words out painfully. “I appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it, brother.” Kason slapped his hand down on my shoulder. “I’m happy to help.”
I smiled tightly and waited to be dismissed. Beatrice babbled off a few additional instructions and then sent us on our way.
Kason and I stepped into the lobby, pulling the door closed behind us. We barely made it two steps before Kason burst into boisterous laughter.
“Fuck off,” I mumbled, already walking away.
“Hey!” Kason ran to keep up. “Don’t be pissy with me. This wasn’t my idea.”
“I don’t need your help,” I snapped.
Shoving open the door to the lobby, I stepped outside and marched down the sidewalk. Kason hurried after me, still cackling with amusement.
“Listen.” He grabbed my arm and forced me to stop. “Let’s grab some breakfast, all right? We can talk through some ideas that—”
“Candice is falling for me,” I said firmly. “Trust me.”
Kason held his hands up. “I believe you,” he said. “So, let’s just humor B, okay? What’s the harm?”
My lips pressed tightly together. Kason didn’t know it, but the harm was clear. My feelings for Candice were stronger than I ever expected, and the idea of implementing his methods on her made my skin crawl.
***
“What do you want?” Kason asked, his nose in the menu. “I’m thinking waffles.”
“I’m not hungry.”
Sighing, Kason put down the menu and fixed me with an impatient glare.
“Fine,” he said. “If you want to be a dick about this, then whatever. I’m only here on B’s orders anyway.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m just pissed off, okay? This whole thing is more complicated than I thought.”
Kason nodded, but I knew he didn’t understand. He couldn’t. His brief foray into real feelings ended after a quick fuck with that Yolanda chick. What I felt for Candice couldn’t be buried with sex.
We ordered our food before Kason cleared his throat and leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table between us.
“First things first,” he said. “You need to give her something to think about. Have you kissed her?”
“Of course.”
“How many times?”
“Twice.”
Kason shook his head. “Not enough.”
“We’ve only been out twice,” I snapped. “That’s one per date.”
“You’re telling me there haven’t been moments,” Kason said doubtfully, “moments in the middle of the date where you thought ‘hmm, if this was a real date, I would totally kiss her right now?’”
Candice was sitting on the picnic blanket, her legs tucked beneath her, her dark brown hair falling over one shoulder. No matter what I did, I couldn’t stop my eyes from dropping to her lips. In that moment, I wanted to kiss her more than anything.
But I stopped myself because I knew if I kissed her right then, I’d never be able to stop.
“I guess,” I said. “I mean, I don’t know, man. She’s a client. It’s not a real date.”
“You have to think of it like it is,” Kason said.
Our food arrived, saving me from my own confusion. Everything Kason said was the opposite of how I operated. A firm separation between work and life, clients and dates. That was the only way I could keep things straight.
“You told me not to fall for her,” I reminded him.
Kason swallowed hard. “And I meant that,” he said. “But if you don’t let yourself believe it’s a date, then Candice will never believe it either. She needs to feel your presence, you know? Really feel that you’re into her.”
I am.
“She does,” I said, though I wasn’t so sure.
“You rejected her last night.”
“I didn’t.”
Kason held up his hand. “You did. She was going to invite you inside, right?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“But you ran away before she could?”
“I didn’t run.”
“You left?”
I hesitated. “Yes,” I finally said. “I left.”
“Why?” Kason demanded without missing a beat. “Why leave? Why not go in? Flirt a little more. Seduce her.”
“Because having sex is—”
“Not sex.” Kason grinned. “Just everything but.”
Shaking my head, I looked away. Kason was the last person I wanted to have this conversation with.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll do that next time.”
“You will?” He didn’t believe me.
“Of course.” I shrugged, putting on my most nonchalant tone. “Why not? It’s just work, right?”
Kason smiled, nodding his approval. “Exactly,” he said. “If you do this right, Ry, this client could make your career.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Maybe.”
My mind drifted as we finished our breakfast. Luckily, Kason dropped the subject and began reminiscing about our college days instead. It was much easier to feign interest in the hockey championship we’d won than his insane notions about our job.
As we paid the bill, my phone chimed in my pocket.
Hey you. You free tomorrow night?
The smile formed on my face before I could stop it. I typed out an eager “yes” and slapped a few bills down on the table. Kason followed me outside, oblivious to the sudden improvement in my mood.
“Hey, Kase,” I said as we walked down the sidewalk.
“Yeah?”
“Whatever happened with Yolanda?” I asked. “I mean, after you slept with her.’
Kason shrugged. “Nothing, man.”
“Nothing? At all?”
“Nope.” Kason shook his head. “I fucked her and then we went our separate ways. The contract was up anyway.”
“So, you didn’t call her or …”
“God, no!” Kason laughed. “Why the hell would I do that?”
I blinked. “Because you had feelings for her.”
“So? Girlfriends are just a waste of time.”
Kason brushed it off like nothing. He kept walking, but I fell a few paces behind. I’d always known Kason could be an ass, but this was different. How could it have been so easy for him to just turn it off? Just fall for a woman and then walk away?
I thought about Candice. Her deep brown eyes blinked at me innocently.
My job was important. It kept a roof over Paisley’s head, yet the idea of walking away from Candice, of ending the contract and disappearing from her life, felt impossible.
Chapter 18
Candice
Kendra’s head appeared in my doorway. Her wide eyes were cautious as she took a tentative step inside.
“What’s up?” I asked without looking up.
She jumped. Shaking her head, she cleared her throat and took another step forward. Even from behind my desk, I could see her hands trembling at her sides.
“Annie got back to us about Roberto’s contract,” Kendra said. “Apparently, his lawyer is right. They found a loophole.”
Nodding, I pulled open my desk drawer and grabbed a manila folder. I dropped it on my desk and leaned back. Crossing my arms, I smirked and waited for Kendra to pick it up.
“What’s this?” she asked nervously.
“That is everything we need to nail Rob
erto to the wall.” I grinned.
Kendra flipped open the folder with a frown. She scanned the first page, her eyes slowly widening with surprise. When she looked back at me, a hesitant smile pulled at the corners of her lips.
“How did you find this?” she asked.
“I couldn’t sleep on Wednesday,” I said. “So, I thought I’d sit down with Roberto’s contract and see what I came up with. It looks like Roberto was already in breach before he decided to quit. Which means—”
“His ass is ours.” Kendra’s smile turned into a laugh. She threw her head back and shook her head, clearly impressed. “I can’t believe you found this.”
Shrugging, I uncrossed my arms and got to my feet. I gestured for Kendra to follow me into the hall.
“It was easy,” I said. “Everyone forgets to read the fine print. And section 4.05 subsection 37 clearly states that engaging in a physical relationship with one of our models is prohibited.”
“How can we prove it?” Kendra’s face dropped.
I just grinned and led the way to the conference room. Earlier that morning, I’d called an emergency meeting with our legal team. Annie’s message to Kendra was preemptive. She thought she knew what the meeting was about, but she was wrong.
Stepping inside, I smiled at everyone, lingering for a second longer on Annie. She shifted nervously in her seat.
“Relax, Annie.” I stopped at the head of the table. “This is good news.”
“What happened?” Annie asked. She sat up straight and interlaced her fingers on the table.
“Kendra.” I held my hand out for the folder. Kendra darted forward, placing the folder quickly in my waiting palm. “Thank you.”
Handing it to Annie, I sat down as she opened it and scanned the first page. Like Kendra, her eyes widened with shock, and then a small smile crossed her lips.
“Proof?” she asked.
“Page six.”
Annie’s fingers fumbled with the paper. Her eyes darted back and forth across the page. When she was done reading, she slapped the folder onto the table and burst out laughing.
“That little fucker.”
The rest of the team stared nervously from Annie to me. Neither of us explained. We were too busy reveling in the moment.
“He never read the contract,” I said. “So when he sent me that email, he had no idea it would come back to bite him in the ass.”
“What email?” Kendra asked quickly.
Grinning mischievously, I turned to the rest of the team. I cleared my throat and nodded to Annie. She was still laughing as she explained Roberto’s screw up to her team.
“He needed the night off two months ago,” Annie said. “For a date. With Tristan.”
“Dating one of Smart Cosmetics models is strictly forbidden,” I said. “So says Roberto’s contract.”
“Well, Roberto had no idea,” Annie said. “And he asked Candice in writing for time off to ‘woo the handsome Tristan with his manly wiles,’ and well, we all know what that means.”
Realization dawned on everyone at the same time. Small snickers echoed from one person to the next.
“So.” I clapped my hands and got to my feet. “Looks like that little issue has been resolved. Annie, I trust you’ll obtain the three-million-dollar retainer before the end of next week?”
“Absolutely.” Annie’s confidence was unflinching. “No way he can talk himself out of this one.”
“Excellent.”
Without another word, I breezed out of the conference room and ran right into my little sister.
“Whoa!” Leslie jumped back to avoid getting run over. “Are we still having lunch?”
“Yup,” I said, hurrying back to my office. “Just let me grab my purse, and we can go.”
Leslie jogged to keep up. “What was that meeting about? I saw Annie. Was it about Roberto’s contract?”
We reached my office, and I quickly ushered her inside. Glancing behind me, I made sure no one was in the hallway before I closed the door with a snap.
“Yes,” I said, turning back to Leslie. “But it’s confidential, okay? You cannot take this back to the marketing department, especially not Heidi.”
“Okay,” Leslie said slowly. “What is it?”
“We caught Roberto red-handed.” I shrugged. “He was trying to weasel his way out of his contract, but he’s been in breach all along. He was screwing Tristan, so not only do we get our retainer back but I’m fairly certain Roberto will have a bitch of a time finding another job when word gets out that he messes around with his models.”
Leslie’s face fell. Frowning, she turned away from me toward the wall and crossed her arms.
“Hey,” I said. “What’s wrong? What did I say?”
“Roberto is a friend.” Leslie rounded on me. “And you just screwed him over like that?”
“He’s not a friend. He’s an employee who didn’t follow the rules.”
Leslie scoffed. “You’ve known him for ten years, Candi.”
“And?” I asked. “He’s the one who tried to cheat me out of three-million-dollars, Leslie.”
“That doesn’t make it okay.”
Sighing, I took a step forward and held out my hand. Leslie looked at it but didn’t make a move to take it.
“Look,” I said. “It sucks, but it’s business. This is what I was worried about when you started working here. The ugly side of things. The bitter side. It’s not all fun and money and glamor, Les. Sometimes I have to do things I don’t like.”
Leslie stared at me for another second. Finally, she sighed and slapped her hand down on mine. A tiny smile flickered across her face.
“So, you aren’t happy about it?” she asked as we left for lunch.
“No.” I laughed. “I’m fucking ecstatic.”
***
“I lied.”
Leslie’s grays snapped up to meet mine. She lowered her water glass, frowning across the table while I fiddled with the salmon on my plate.
“About what?” she asked nervously.
With a long inhale, I put my fork down and shook my head. For two days, I’d struggled with whether to tell Leslie about Ryan. I needed her advice, but I was terrified I might not like what she had to say.
“I’m not happy about Roberto,” I finally said. “I only did all of this because I needed a distraction.”
“A distraction from what?” Leslie leaned forward, her eyes filled with concern.
“I’ve been seeing this guy.”
“What?”
Leslie didn’t let me get another word out. She practically flew out of her chair in her haste to know everything. Waving her hands frantically through the air, she bombarded me with questions, horrified that I’d kept such a big secret from her.
“Calm down.” I laughed shakily and glanced around the restaurant. Multiple pairs of eyes were already on us. “I’ll tell you everything, just shut up.”
“Fine, fine, fine.” Leslie put her hand to her chest dramatically. “Okay. I’m calm. Tell me.”
“Do you remember the guy from the coffee shop?” I asked.
Leslie’s eyes widened. “The eye-fucker?”
“His name is Ryan,” I said defensively. “And we’ve gone out a couple times.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded.
“I was afraid.” I shrugged. “I didn’t want to jinx it or have it get back to Mom.”
Leslie’s eyes narrowed into a glare. “You really think I would tell Mom?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I took a sip of water before I continued. “I was surprised. Ryan is … good-looking and charming and sexy.”
“You were worried he’d lose interest,” Leslie said wisely.
“And I think he has.”
My eyes fell to the table. I picked up my fork again and pushed a few pieces of salmon around my plate. Stabbing one, I tried to make myself take a bite, but my appetite was gone.
“Why?” Leslie’s v
oice was softer than I’d ever heard it. “Why would he lose interest?”
Looking up, I took a deep breath. Telling Leslie about Ryan was one thing, but admitting my insecurities was something different entirely.
“We went out Wednesday night,” I said slowly. “When we got back to my place, I was going to invite him in, but he left before I could even get the words out. He practically ran down the hall. I have no idea what happened or what I did wrong.”
“Maybe he just got nervous,” Leslie suggested.
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s it.”
“What kind of vibes are you getting from him?” Leslie asked, her forehead creased.
I laughed. “Vibes?”
“You know what I mean.” She rolled her eyes. “How does he act around you?”
Ryan had always been sweet and flirtatious. From that first day in the coffee shop, I knew he liked me.
“I think he’s into me,” I said honestly. “Just maybe not physically.”
“That is ridiculous.” Leslie waved her hand dismissively. “Candice, no. That’s not it.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Have you heard from him since that night?” she asked. I nodded. “Any plans to see each other again?”
“Yeah, we’ve been texting.” My head turned instinctively to my purse. “We’re supposed to go out again tonight.”
Leslie clapped her hands together victoriously. “There,” she said. “Exactly. Point proved.”
Staring blankly at her, I waited for an explanation to come. Leslie just sighed as if she couldn’t believe I could be so daft.
“If he didn’t want you,” she said slowly. “He wouldn’t be willing to see you again.”
It made sense. The logic was irrefutable, yet I couldn’t help but remember the look in his eyes when he walked away that night.
“Maybe.” I shrugged. “We’ll see how tonight goes.”
Leslie took a sip of water and shook her head. “I just can’t believe you haven’t slept with him yet.” She laughed to herself. “God, two dates? I don’t think I’ve ever made it past the first.”
“Tonight,” I said, my confidence slowly returning. “I’ll make it happen tonight.”
“Good girl.”